


Protector of Whitestone Forest

by ConinDraconir



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Blood, Implied/Referenced Character Death, passing of the torch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 03:12:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8951722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConinDraconir/pseuds/ConinDraconir
Summary: Set almost a century in the future of VM, one of Percy and Vex's descendants finds themselves fleeing a tragedy that happened in Whitestone. They end up in the forest, and in danger from poachers. There they meet the guardian of the forest.





	

Vex’alhia Cassondra de Rolo ran into the forests around Whitestone. She didn’t know what else to do today.

She had been waiting for their great grandma and her companions, the last of the famous group called Vox Machina, to return from their investigation into rumors about a dragon near Westruun. Aunt Pike had stayed behind to help care for Great Aunt Cassondra in her old age. Uncle Scanlan had been asked to stay behind and watch her younger brother, Grog. Which had left Grandma Vex, Uncle Vax, and Aunt Keyleth to go investigate the possible dragon. Vex had wanted to play with Aunt Pike, but Great Aunt Cassondra was having a conversation about old people things with her and didn’t want to be disturbed. Vex had gotten bored listening to Uncle Scanlan tell Grog all the stories about his namesake, an Uncle Grog that Vex had never met. Plus, she’d heard most of these stories already. Uncle Scanlan had been around when she was younger, and he always seemed to go back to the same stories. He really liked cooking for some reason, and kept talking about meeting the meat man and some spices, or something like that.

But she was ten now. That was double digits and that meant that her great grandma, and namesake, had started teaching her how to shoot and find healthy foods in the forest and all the other cool things that went with a ranger lifestyle. So, she had gone to train with her grandma’s old bow. It even had a nifty string that set some of the arrows on fire! Maybe if Vex could shoot all the targets today, she might be able to go with her grandma on an adventure, just the two of them. So with high hopes, she had went to the shooting range her great grandpa Percy had built. It had the usual straw targets, but also some fun inventions of his. There were some targets attached to gears and pulleys…and they moved around the shooting range! ‘Your great grandpa was a very smart man,’ grandma Vex would tell her when she was first learning the bow. ‘He would be so proud of you.’

And so she trained, hoping to be good enough that grandma Vex would be proud when she saw all the targets were hit. She loved great grandma Vex. Grandma Vex never treated her like a child, and even trusted her to use a bow safely. Her mom, Lady Kima de Rolo, didn’t approve of this training, but couldn’t stop grandma Vex when she wanted to get her way.

It was late afternoon when she finally went to clean the bow and put the arrows back safely, like her grandma showed her, when the first scream echoed to the castle from the direction of the Sun Tree. Vex’alhia ran to the front hall just as the doors burst open. A large white saber cat burst into the foyer, paws smoking as the flames dies from them, quickly turning back into her Aunt Keyleth when the cat saw her.

“Vex’alhia!” She said in a choked voice. “I need you to be a big girl right now and go get your Aunt Pike. We need her in the temple. Hurry!”

The intensity in her aunt’s voice stirred her into action and she went running to find her gnome aunt. She tore through the familiar hallways of the castle until she collided with someone in the hallway. She fell back from the impact, only to see her Aunt Pike stumble back as well. “Aunt Pike! Aunt Pike! Aunt Keyleth said they need you in the temple. I don’t know what’s going on!”

Shock flashed across Pike’s features as the implications hit her and not the small de Rolo. They both tore through the halls and then down into the temple below the castle. When they got there, Aunt Keyleth was crying softly as she crouched down next to the whitestone slab. Uncle Vax’ildan had his big raven wings out, covering the table as he prayed furiously in a whispered voice. Vex loved when Uncle Vax would take her flying. Even grandma Vex didn’t know about those trips. Vex was good at keeping secrets when her family asked her to.

Aunt Pike pushed up close to Uncle Vax, a brilliant light appearing around her holy symbol as she started her own prayers. As she pushed in close to the slab, Uncle Vax shifted his wings out of her way, and Vex saw her grandmother lying down, a large hole in her side. The little de Rolo gasped, which seemed to break the prayers of her uncle. He turned quickly, the wings retracting into his armor, and moved towards her. He wrapped her up in a quick hug, tears of his own threatening to spill out of his eyes “Little Vex, I need you to go be with your Uncle Scanlan right now. Your grandma Vex got hurt, but Pike will take care of her. But she’ll need to concentrate, so I need you to go for now. I’ll come get you when we finish here.”

Vex felt numb. She saw the pallor of her grandma’s skin. Pale, paler than usual. But she trusted her family. If they said it would be ok…then it would be ok, right? They wouldn’t lie to her. So she left the temple, and went upstairs to sit with her Uncle Scanlan and little brother Grog. And she waited, but not patiently.

15 minutes later, the wailing cry of Vax’ildan, paladin of the Raven Queen, echoed up from the depths of the castle. The sound tore at Vex’alhia’s soul, spilling a truth more horrific than anything she ever wanted to know. The sound emanated from the walls, and she had to escape from that sound. So she ran from the room, heedless of the calls from her Uncle Scanlan as he cradled Grog in his arms. She ran from the castle, not knowing how to deal with that heart-wrenching sound.

And so she ran into the forest, little legs pumping as hard as she could, gasping for breath, a pain in her chest that had nothing to do with the exertion. Branches whipped at her face, roots grabbed for her feet. She finally slowed when she couldn’t see the sunlight through the branches. Even in the gathering darkness, she didn’t fear the forest. These trees were her friends. The animals in the forest were her companions when she stopped to speak with them. But even surrounded by her wonderful forest…she felt horribly alone.

Her aunts and uncles didn’t have to say it in words. She felt it inside. Her great grandma Vex wouldn’t be teaching her archery anymore, wouldn’t be accompanying her into the forest anymore, wouldn’t be…wouldn’t be around anymore. Vex’alhia crashed to her knees and wept. Hot tears ran down her face as cried quietly. She didn’t know how long she stayed there, letting her sorrow wash over her. But when her tears finally stopped, it was true dark.

The soft sounds of the forest surrounded her, and she realized that she hadn’t taken proper markings of her path into the forest. She looked around hastily, trying to get her bearings. But she had no light due to the dense foliage. She hadn’t brought any camping supplies or food with her into the forest either. She had to find her way out. She took a deep breath.

‘Always stay calm,’ grandma Vex had taught her. ‘If you’re calm, you’ll think better. And when you can think, you can find a way to safety.’

Opening her eyes, Vex’alhia allowed herself to relax as much as possible. In the distance, she saw a small light flickering. She started towards it, figuring that it was probably one of the watchmen out on his rounds outside the wall and carrying a lantern. Vex would make it home, and maybe Aunt Pike would have tried a bigger spell, and everything would be fine again. But she had to get home to remind Aunt Pike about resurrection spells. Grownups always forgot the smartest ideas.

Vex had gotten closer to the light now, and she could see that it wasn’t the usual lanterns that the guards carried on their rounds. It was torches, and there were close to a dozen of them. The Pale Guard never patrolled with that many soldiers. Something was wrong. She crouched low, taking a wider stance, and moving carefully over the branches and leaves on the forest floor. She closed on the torches, starting to catch the sounds of men shouting and of a bear roaring in pain.

“Poachers? In Whitestone Forest? But Grandma always said the guardian of the forest wouldn’t allow for poaching to happen.” Vex paused, thinking. She heard the bear roar again, and gasped. “What if that is the guardian? What if they’re killing the guardian?”

She ran as quiet and fast as she could, not knowing what she was planning to do. It was at this point that she realized that she still had the bow and arrows along her back. She might be able to scare them away. She didn’t know. “I won’t allow poachers in our forest. Especially when Grandma Vex told me all about her bear friend.” She choked back a sob, feeling the lump rise in her throat again.

She got within 100 feet of the clearing where the men were, and she saw that it wasn’t actually a dozen men in the small camp. There were 8 men, huddled around a cage that housed a heavily wounded and very angry brown bear. They had swords and spears, and were laughing whenever they poked or slashed at the poor creature. A rage burned in Vex’s tiny body, and she nocked an arrow into the bow.

“Leave the bear alone!” She screamed as she moved into the light, pointing the arrow towards one of the men.

There was a stunned silence for a mere moment. And then a large behemoth of a man walked towards Vex, brandishing his sword. “Oh really, girlie? And who’re you to tell us what to do?”

Vex almost took a step back, a primal fear rising in her. But her rage towards these men and the horror at what they were doing firmed her resolve. She raised herself up to her full height, which might have come up to the man’s thighs, and she moved the arrow to face him square on as she drew it back to full draw. He paused, eyes slightly widening as the light reflected off the arrowhead. “My name is Vex’alhia Cassondra de Rolo, and you are poaching in the forest that we protect.”

A few of the men murmured behind their leader, looking into the forest as if to see the Pale Guard appear from the darkness. The leader grinned fiendishly. “That may be, little de Rolo, but didn’t you hear? Your city suffered a major loss today, and all your family and friends are in the city until morning. No one is coming out here to stop us. And if you think that you can…” he stepped even closer, weaving his sword slightly as Vex’s arm started shaking from the strain of holding the arrow drawn. “Well, then we’ll have to take you with us, or leave your body for the wolves.”

Vex started, and her fingers slipped off of the string. The arrow sprang forward, whizzing through the air, and embedded in the poacher’s sword arm. He grunted in pain, and then jumped forward. His large fist crashed into the side of her head, and blackness overtook her.

* * *

 

She awoke to low growling and snuffling, and a rocking motion. She groaned, and she felt a hot breath on her face. She opened her eyes to see the bear right in her face, blood streaming down from cuts on its face. She saw that she and the bear were sitting in the back of a caged cart, which was being pulled along a trail in the forest. She froze as the bear leaned even closer to her, filling her vision. It opened its mouth, revealing long teeth…and a large tongue that shot out and licked her face. Vex blinked in surprise, and hesitantly reached her hand out towards the bear.

“It’ll be ok, I promise.” She whispered, slowly stroking the bear’s nose and doing her best to wipe the blood off its’ face. “My family always told me that bears are so strong. That they even knew a bear who fought a dragon. These bad men will be stopped and I’ll make my Aunt Keyleth and Aunt Pike use some of their healing on you. I promise. And a de Rolo keeps their promise.”

“Hey boss! The kid’s awake!”

The cart stopped sharply, making Vex roll into the bear, who growled angrily. “Well, girlie. Looks like I didn’t kill you after all. Though who could blame me after you shot me with that damn arrow of yours?” He came around to the side of the cage, making her draw back against the coarse fur of the bear. “And now that you’ve made me take this measure against you, let me tell you what’s gonna happen with you. We’re headed back to this bear’s nest, where her mate is waiting. We’re gonna drop the two of you off there, and we’ll let nature do its business when he sees you with her and she’s all cut up. And then we can calmly go back to town as the wonderful heroes who tried our hardest to save you but couldn’t get to you before that nasty bear tore you to pieces. _So_ tragic.” He shook his head and clucked his tongue at her, then disappeared to the front of the cart, laughing.

Vex felt a sob wrack her body, and she had to struggle against it. She didn’t want to cry in front of these men. It took another 20 minutes or so before the cart was deposited near a small cave. The men hastily backed the wagon up to the cave entrance, hearing the low rumbling from within the dark expanse. The leader of the poachers took his blade in his uninjured arm, and forcefully rammed it into the female bear’s hide. She roared in pain, evoking a flurry of activity from the unseen bear. An angry growl answered her exclamation, and the bandits retreated into the trees. Vex huddled as rlow as she could, terror clawing its way through her body in a panicked rush. A loud rumble echoed through the clearing as a large body lumbered forward. A body that was much, much larger than the brown bear in the cage with her.

The light from the torches left on the cart illuminated a massive creature. Thick, coarse fur, so dark it was almost black. A long snout, with teeth so large they actually forced the jaws apart. Large, intelligent eyes that took in the injured mate that was whimpering softly in her last moments of life and the small child stuck right beside her. Next came the front paws, with claws that look sharp enough to shatter rocks. When the full form of the bear finally entered Vex’s sight, she can see now that it is a dire bear. Twice as large as the dying brown bear, and three times as ferocious.

“Help,” Vex whispered shakily, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. “Aunt Keyleth, Aunt Pike, Uncle Scalan, Uncle Vax, somebody…help!”

The dire bear raised one giant paw and smashed its way into the cage, tearing off part of the roof and an entire wall. Saliva dripped from its maw as the lips pulled back in a rage. As the rumbling growl grew into a roar, Vex screamed and threw her hands up.

“Grandma Vex, HELP ME!”

The dire bear froze, inches away from her, hot breath washing over her small form. Slowly, it closed its’ maw, and took in a deep breath through its nose, taking in her scent.

_You smell like my Vex’alhia._ The voice echoed in her mind. _I served her in life by protecting her from all harm. I now serve her line after the death of my first body. I will help you, little de Rolo, for I am the guardian of your family’s forest and of my Vex’alhia’s line. Simply call my name. Command me as she once did._

With a sense of awe, and an intense wash of calm from the voice, Vex ceased her crying. She hesitantly raised her hand toward the dire bear, and gently touched his nose.

“Trinket.”

It wasn’t a question. She didn’t know how she knew she was right, but she remembered her Grandma Vex’s stories about her companion. About how many times he saved her, and how many times he had comforted her in her times of trouble and sadness. It didn’t matter that Trinket’s had died many decades before. The bear before her was Trinket. It had to be.

_That is my name. It is so nice to hear it spoken aloud after all these years._

The dire bear sighed, and took a step forward. Vex flinched as the foot arced over her…and then passed harmlessly through her. She blinked. The form of the dire bear shimmered, lost its’ furry coherence, and burst apart into a thick mist.

All of the torches that the poachers were snuffed out as the mist engulfed the entire clearing. A thick wall of fog congealed between the trees, and Vex could see that it was actually solid, because some of the poachers tried to run away and were rebuffed. The trees began to shake, the earth began to rumble, and a growl as loud as a rockslide echoed from all directions. A flash drew Vex’s attention to the sky.

From the night sky, stars twinkled in their heavenly bed. One by one, the constellation of Ursa Major (as the books called it), sometimes lovingly called Trinket (‘He’s always watching me and our family, and what better place to do that than from the heavens themselves?), began to twinkle and shift. And then began to walk in the sky. The stars flared brighter, and from the sky descended an ethereal bear. His fur was made of the whispers that were prayed each evening to the deities. His claws were forged from the hearts of the stars themselves, and glowed with a white-hot fire. His breath brought comfort to Vex, the love she felt from all the summer nights with her grandma, and yet it seemed to paralyze the bandits, the fear of the never-ending sky and of horrific winter storms crashing down upon them. His form reached the ground like a blue feather falling on the wind. He now would dwarf the dire bear he had been masquerading as before. If that dire bear stood on its hind legs, it would barely reach his shoulders now.

And yet even for all of his physical features, the most amazing thing about this Trinket was his eyes. His eyes were swirling vortexes of light and shadow. She stared, feeling her soul sucked away for a moment, like water out of a bathtub. And then her mind returned, snapping back as Trinket blinked and released her from his mental grip. His eyes were now galaxies, spinning away and promising answers to questions that hadn’t even been thought of yet. He blinked again. When he opened them this time, his eyes were her grandmother’s soft hue, and her voice spoke softly to Vex.

_Darling, it will be ok now. I told you that Trinket would always watch over you in the forest, and now I will be with him again, watching over you as well. You are so brave, my love. I am sorry that I was taken away in such a fashion, but dragons are dangerous foes. But don’t cry, sweetling. I will always be here, in the forest, and you can always come visit. Just remember to give Trinket some ear scritches. He loves those. Now be a brave girl one more time for me, and tell Trinket to take these bad men away from here, and somewhere that the Pale Guard can deal with them._

Her grandmother’s comforting voice left her mind, and Vex regained her senses to hear the poachers whimpering in fear as they cowered from the monstrous bear. Vex stood slowly, and was about to issue her command when the bleating bark of a young bear came from the cave. A very small brown cub toddled out of the cave, and started nudging at his mother’s unmoving body. Vex sniffed in sadness, realizing now that her life had faded while Trinket transformed.

The ghostly form of Trinket gently laid a spirit paw on the cub’s head, and the cub slowly fell to sleep. _My son._ The comforting rumble of Trinket echoed in her head once again. _He is a Good Bear, like I was a Good Bear. You knew my Vex’alhia, and I would ask you to look after him, since it will be some time before I have my physical body again. Will you do this favor for me?_ _Will you love him as I loved my Vex’alhia, as she loved me?_

Vex thought for a moment, and then nodded, understanding the weight she was just asked to undertake. Trinket slowly picked up his cub, the only living member of his family, and gently placed him in Vex’s arms. He bent his head forward, and pressed his snout against his cub’s head. When he pulled back, there was now two streaks of blue fur behind the cub’s ear, and Vex had to smile. The pattern looked almost like the feathers her grandmother wore.

“Trinket.” At her voice, the eyes focused on her, slowly spiraling into galaxies. “Trinket, these men need to be punished for what they did. Can you bring them to town so the Pale Guard can put them somewhere where they will never do something like this ever again?”

The galaxies turned red, reflecting the anger in both of their hearts, and he turned to face the eight men. And the great bear spirit Trinket, vanquisher of vampires, beloved member of Vox Machina, first guardian of Whitestone forest, the lone vanguard that stood against Oralan in the Feywild, dipped his head to the young de Rolo ranger, and obeyed. With a vengeance.

* * *

 

It was hours after midnight. The remaining members of Vox Machina had scoured the town of Whitestone since they learned tiny Vex de Rolo had fled the castle. Pike and Scanlan gathered townsfolk to create search parties, and were working with Pale Guard patrols to turn over every building in town. Keyleth had gone immediately to the Sun Tree, and was pouring her remaining spells into trying to find her through her druidic methods.

But Vax’ildan had a hunch. He had run east from the castle, following a little-known path to the people of the city. This was a path that Percival had created for his wife, Vax’s sister, back during their adventuring days. He installed a secret door into the outer wall of the city, and it was a quick route into the great forest that lay outside the city. Vex’alhia always took the young de Rolos to the forest, hoping one of them would show the same draw that had pulled on her heart. Little Vex was the first in three generations to exhibit the love of being a ranger, and both Vex’s were known to escape to the trees together.

And so he crashed into the woods, shouting for Vex, not caring if he disturbed the animals that lived here. He was very surprised when the forest itself seemed to shout back. The roar knocked him off his feet, shooting him dozens of feet back with a gale of wind. He tried to recover, to grab a tree trunk, or a large rock, anything that would stop his obviously magical flight. But the trees shrunk away from his touch, the rocks became smooth and slick under his fingers. The freak breeze died when he was finally deposited outside the edge of the woods, at the public cemeteries where the Whitestone residents could lay remembrances to their dead. The de Rolos also had grave markers here, for the citizens to do the same, but their bodies were buried in the crypt under the castle itself.

Vax rose to a crouch, slipping two of his daggers from his belt. He watched the trees swaying, whipping back and forth. A rolling fog spilled out past their roots, and then the trees moved. Parted like a crowd as a massive being shouldered past them. The half-elf was having difficulty seeing what the figure was, due to what seemed a ghostly or spiritual nature, but fighting it alone was going to be an issue if it turned hostile.

He reached a hand up to the earring of Whisper that all members of VM wore. “Public cemetery. Jenga. Yes, I’m counting to ten.” He didn’t know if anyone was within range, but he had to try.

The fog finally stopped pushing out of the forest, halting a few paces from Vax’s position. Cautiously, he rose, but before he could walk forward, the face of an enormous bear appeared from within the cloud. Vax knew that face. He had lived with that bear for years.

“Trinket?” he whispered.

_Vax’ildan. I bring you a gift, and a favor repaid._

The mouth of the bear opened, and from within his misty form, tiny Vex came walking out, carrying something in her arms. Behind her stumbled eight men, bound by some ethereal chain around their necks, hands, and feet. In an instant, he had dropped his knives and ran forward to envelop his great niece in a warm embrace.

“Thank Sarenrae you’re safe,” he mumbled into her hair, squeezing her tightly.

“Uncle Vax, you’re squishing me! I’m ok. I’m ok. Trinket saved me from these bad men.”

Vax stiffened a little at that, releasing Vex, and glaring at the bandits. “What did they do, Vex?”

She looked down at the bundle in her arms, and Vax saw it was a bear cub now, sleeping contentedly in her small arms. “They killed his mom. They tried to get the other bear to kill me by making it look like I did it. But it was really Trinket. They didn’t know that though.” She smiled softly at the monstrous spirit bear. Vax would swear that he had gotten even bigger while standing there, surrounding the edge of the graveyard.

_I give these men to you to be judged, Vax’ildan. Brother of my mistress. They poached within grounds where it was forbidden, threatened a member of the ruling family, and inflicted harm upon her person. Also, they smell bad._

With an unwilling movement, the eight men started walking forward, jerkily. Some of them looked more relieved to be facing the legendary rogue than Trinket, and Vax couldn’t blame them when he looked upon this form of Trinket. He didn’t want to face this Trinket when he was mad either. When the final man in line went to walk forward, the bandit with the wounded arm, a massive claw sliced down, severing the bonds to the man in front of him, and wrapping him in blue fingers of energy.

_This one is mine, Vax’ildan. He will face the justice of the forest, my justice, not the justice of man. For the crime of hurting my family, I will deal with him personally. I will release him within the forest, free him from his confinements, and then I will hunt him, as he hunted the mother of my child. He will never escape, and fear shall be his only friend. Only when he truly begs for death will I consider it._

The poacher screamed as he was drawn back into the forest, and soon he was lost to both sound and sight. His former companions stood staring, clustered in the middle of a graveyard. Vax started leading all of them back towards the city, where the Pale Guard and the rest of his companions were still searching for Vex.

The small de Rolo walked beside him, cradling the bear cub. “Uncle Vax?” she asked softly.

“Yes, my sweet?”

He looked down at her and was suddenly transported back over a century into his past, when he was in another forest. He saw his twin walking into their shared camp, carrying a small and wounded bear cub, holding her emotions back behind a mask. The image overlaid in his mind, and he could almost feel the strings of fate pulling in the same direction as they did in his youth.

“His name is Trinket.”

Strangely, he heard this both from his memory of Vex’alhia, and also from the small human in front of him now. And then the image faded as his young niece looked worried. “Do you think Grandma Vex would like that? She wouldn’t be mad that I’m naming him that, right?”

Vax smiled. “Little one, I think that would make her so happy.”

They walked together, leading the prisoners back to town.

* * *

 

Trinket emerged from the forest later that evening, still in his spiritual body. He walked into the graveyard. He found his way to a fancy headstone, one that had an incredibly LONG name carved into it. Beside it was an empty plot that had been set out a long time ago, ever since Percy passed. The bear pressed his nose into the earth, and with a quick rumble, a stone emerged. It looked as if it had vines intricately climbing across its edges, and a stone bow extended as well, merging into Percy’s headstone, joining them in death as they were in life. On the new tombstone was engraved: **Vex’alhia de Rolo. Baroness of the Third House of Whitestone and the Grandmistress of the Grey Hunt. Dragon slayer.** In small letters at the bottom of the headstone: **For her, family was the real treasure.**

Trinket stepped back and snorted in contentment when he saw the outcome. Calmly, he walked back towards the forest, and started rising into the air. If anyone was watching, they would have seen his body drift apart the higher he went, and the stars from Ursa Major reappeared in the night sky, with a constellation forming near those stars, shaped oddly like a half-elf, if one used their imaginations.


End file.
